Now to immigration. And the crisis on our southern border. Congress has gone home without agreeing on plan. There are new questions this morning about what president Obama can do on his own to deal with the overlapping issues. ABC's Jim Avila has the latest. Reporter: It's official. Congress has left the building. Leaving the president promising to go solo on the humanitarian crisis at the border and broader immigration reform. I'm going to have to act alone. Because we don't have enough resources. We have already been very clear. We have run out of money. Reporter: Congress on vacation after a last minute flurry of finger pointing. The crisis on the border is one of the president's own making. Reporter: In the end, nothing went from the hill to the president for signing. The house stands adjourned. Reporter: And 1500 miles to the southwest, along the Rio grande, there is no vacation. The rafts keep crossing as we saw from a border patrol boat this week. There's a group coming across. Reporter: The Obama administration has surged 200 more agents to this area, adding more boats. It's working, say the people on the ground and the water. Unaccompanied minor crossings are down by half in July. What do you see? The Numbers have gone down. Reporter: Is it because the message is going across? I don't know about the message getting across. All I can say is the more patrols out here, the more the local agencies are helping out. Reporter: The refugees keep coming. The moms and children. Often children by themselves. This 17-year-old girl came, she says, because of the gangs at home. The violence over there doesn't a I low us to go to school. That's why we're coming over here. Reporter: This type of effort on the border is expensive. So are the new facilities built to humanely hold the moms and kids. While they await a hearing. The border patrol and I.C.E. Say they'll run out of money. By the time congress comes back 26 days from now. In enough time for 5700 children to cross the river alone. For ABC, Jim Avila, McAllen, Texas.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

{"id":24825612,"title":"Border Bedlam","duration":"1:57","description":"As Congress adjourns for its August recess, ABC News' Jim Avila reports on the border surge on the Rio Grande 1,500 miles away.","url":"/ThisWeek/video/mexico-border-crisis-border-bedlam-24825612","section":"ThisWeek","mediaType":"default"}